{"id":774,"date":"2014-04-09T11:43:00","date_gmt":"2014-04-09T11:43:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/2014\/04\/losing-our-religion-on-retaining-young-people-in-the-orthodox-church.html"},"modified":"2014-04-09T11:43:00","modified_gmt":"2014-04-09T11:43:00","slug":"losing-our-religion-on-retaining-young-people-in-the-orthodox-church","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/2014\/04\/losing-our-religion-on-retaining-young-people-in-the-orthodox-church.html","title":{"rendered":"Losing our Religion: On \u201cRetaining\u201d Young People in the Orthodox Church"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

A<\/span>recent article<\/a>\u00a0on the challenge of interfaith marriage in Greek Orthodoxy has been circulating widely on Facebook.[1] One reason for the article\u2019s popularity is its startling claim that 90% of Americans with Greek roots are no longer in communion with the Orthodox Church.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/div>\n
Similarly dismal statistics are likely true for most Orthodox jurisdictions in the United States, but the article in question concerns only the Greek Archdiocese.<\/span><\/div>\n
The article assumes (but does not show) that the reason for this mass\u00a0apostasy<\/a>\u00a0is two-fold: (1) the inevitable rise of interfaith marriages in America\u2019s multicultural, religiously pluralistic, and secular society; and (2) the Greek Orthodox Church\u2019s failure to respond to the \u201ccritical and immediate need for a broad religious outreach; to make room for interfaith families,\u201d and thereby follow St. Paul\u2019s example in extending \u201cChristianity\u2019s outreach\u00a0to all nations<\/i>.\u201d<\/span><\/div>\n
The article is vague when it comes to solutions for the obvious crisis of mass apostasy, so I may have misunderstood its argument, but it\u00a0appears<\/i>\u00a0to suggest that if the Church were more sensitive, accepting of religious difference, and in tune with modern sensibilities, she would have a shot at retaining interfaith families in a secular age\u2014and thereby find a means to stem the tide of apostasy.[2]<\/span><\/div>\n
Such a conclusion is contrary to all evidence I am aware of, both from the sociology of American religion and from the Orthodox Church\u2019s own experience throughout the ages.<\/span><\/div>\n
A few points to consider:<\/span><\/div>\n
1. Jesus did not tell the apostles to extend Christianity\u2019s\u00a0outreach<\/i>\u00a0to all the nations, but to\u00a0make disciples<\/i>\u00a0of all nations. The distinction is critical. The Church attracts and \u201cretains\u201d people only when she disciples them.<\/span><\/div>\n
2. The article uses various statistics to describe a\u00a0problem<\/i>, but employs no\u00a0statistically rigorous studies to find asolution<\/i>. The implied solution is a guess or intuition, and does not necessarily follow from the studies invoked. In fact, as we shall see, the relevant studies that do exist suggest a very different solution.<\/span><\/div>\n
Read the rest here<\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Arecent article\u00a0on the challenge of interfaith marriage in Greek Orthodoxy has been circulating widely on Facebook.[1] One reason for the article\u2019s popularity is its startling claim that 90% of Americans with Greek roots are no longer in communion with the Orthodox Church. Similarly dismal statistics are likely true for most Orthodox jurisdictions in the United […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-774","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nLosing our Religion: On \u201cRetaining\u201d Young People in the Orthodox Church<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Arecent article on the challenge of interfaith marriage in Greek Orthodoxy has been circulating widely on Facebook. 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